Knightfall
by Cranston
Summary: WARNING: Character Death Ahead.The final Surviving Scooby falls in battle.


Warning, MAJOR character death ahead. If I owned them, I could never do this. (Note for dumb lawyers: I do not own any of the characters portrayed within.)

As a suggestion, I think this reads best if you have Aerosmith's 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing' in the background. But maybe that's just me.

* * *

**Knightfall**

Cairo, Egypt, Africa.

Xander Harris was enjoying his time off. Sorta. Sure, it had taken twenty-three years before he allowed himself any (And that was counting from the formation of the New Council, otherwise it's thirty years since he learnt just what went 'bump in the night'.), but it was so sweet! Well, he would be, if he hadn't started brooding the second he arrived.

He was the last.

He cast his mind back, over the years and miles, to the beginning of his litany of the dead.

Jesse, dead because Xander didn't know enough, wasn't strong enough.

Buffy, thank god it wasn't permanent, but still…

Miss Calendar, murdered by Angelus.

Kendra, murdered by Drusilla, while he watched, trapped by the fallen bookshelves.

Harmony, Larry and so many others, killed at graduation, because his plan wasn't good enough.

'Miss' Lawson, who'd been good enough to take him in over the summer while he worked to pay off the car, killed by a vampire he never saw.

Buffy (Again.) with her swan leap off Glory's tower. Again, not permanent, but that time it should have been.

Tara, he hadn't even been in town, had run away and his friend was killed by Warren.

Warren, because he hadn't reached his Wills in time to save her innocence.

All those potentials because he couldn't protect them all. Not even all who made it to Sunnydale.

Anya. He should have been with her, not Andrew.

Cordy, in a coma, who slipped away in the night. Leaving him without a word.

Fred, possessed by a demon, who then took her place within the Fang Gang.

Angel, Wesley, Spike, Illyria and Gunn. He should have responded to Angel's call for help, but he'd distrusted the Vampire for so long…

Faith. She'd lasted five years after Sunnydale. Took three hundred demons with her when she went. Not even close to a fair trade.

Riley and his wife, Sam, gunned down on their anniversary by a drug lord who mistook them for DEA.

Oz. killed by a hunter for his fur. Ripper had left retirement to deal with that one.

Dawn, dear sweet Dawn. She had gone to university, planned on being a Watcher. Murdered by a demon hungry to make a name for itself. It took three hours for it to be found, 65 hours for it to die.

Buffy. Without Dawn, she just gave up. Charged an 'Old One' single handed, leaving the Slayer Scythe behind. He'd failed her, promised to look after her…

Giles just faded away. The loss of his Slayer too much for him to bear. Xander had been with him at the end, expecting recrimination. Giles had called him 'son', and wished him well.

Willow, his Wills, she just disappeared. He found a note telling him, well, a lot of things, but mostly that she loved him and would see him again. That was ten years ago to a day.

Andrew had blossomed in the power vacuum left by the Scooby Gang. He organised, listed and re-organised the New Council. He died too, more prosaically than the others, of a heart attack. Xander had been in Africa, but Andrew's last word had been passed on to him. 'Anya'. It seemed that Andrew had never forgotten who had died for him to live. He'd done her proud.

So it was just him now. He'd led the council for about five years following Andrew's death. He hadn't wanted to, but he'd been press-ganged by, well, everyone. The entire extent Council, the Slayers, the Queen of England, the President of the United States and this realms Sorcerer Supreme had all pleaded with him to become the Head Watcher.

It seemed that he was a talisman against the dark. He'd finally acceded. It took to much effort saying no. He'd finally stepped aside for a carefully groomed, hand-picked replacement, and gone back to Africa, to 'his' Slayers, training and advising (dear God, he'd had to give THE TALK to hundreds of super-strong girls). Home.

So, Xander Harris, 45, one-eyed, bad knees and slightly arthritic joints (along with occasional chest-pains which had him a bit concerned…), his dark hair well streaked with grey, brooded.

He turned on the television, to BBC News 24 (He would never admit it, had gone to great lengths to retain his Californian accent, but there was nothing more soothing to him now than a male British voice calmly reciting facts in the Queen's English.). Huh, it was a piece on Cairo. Hey! There was his hotel!

"_This just in. A renegade scientist, barred from practice and wanted on warrants for unethical experimentation, has gone to ground in the hotel behind me. Reportedly, he has lost his mind, insisting that Satan will protect him and repeatedly chanting nonsense…Good Lord, what's that!"_

Xander had gone on alert the second he'd heard the 'Good Lord'. Staring at the screen, he saw a massive portal opening, a single, massive, figure waiting beyond. Glancing out the window, he confirmed it was really happening, not a stunt. Grabbing his ever-present combat kit (Stakes (6), Holy water (4x50cl canisters), short sword (steel and silver alloy), thermite grenades (6) and his trusty battleaxe (for stage 5: when in doubt, hack the shit out of It.)), a custom piece, a butterfly axe, the handle as long as a man's arm and woven with spells of strength and endurance, the blade made of stainless titanium, the metal folded over three thousand times, quenched in the blood of it's maker and enchanted to be ever sharp, it was a masterpiece. He ran out the door and (hobbled) down the two flights of stairs to the ground floor and out the main entrance to the street beyond.

There was panic in the air, people were screaming and streaming away from the portal. Not that he blamed them. All right, time to party.

"_There is panic all around, everyone is running from the disturbance…wait. A creature of some description is emerging from the disturbance. It's huge, easily four floors tall and twenty foot wide! Panic seems too mild a term for the crowd here, as they push and fight to escape the creatures reach…wait. There's one man standing firm. He, oh my, he's wearing an eye-patch. He's unpacking items from the bag with him…an axe? And several wooden sticks…a sword in his belt and, good lord! Grenades! Looks like this thing is in for some resistance, though it seems doomed to failure. We'll see if we can get a directional microphone on the man. _**"UNKOWN DEMON SEEKING ACCESS TO THIS, MY HOME DIMENSION. I, ALEXANDER LAVELLE HARRIS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF WATCHER'S AND SLAYERS, FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THAT INSTITUTION AND LAST SURVIVING MEMBER OF THE SUNNYDALE BASED SCOOBY GANG, CHALLENGE YOU TO SINGLE COMBAT!"** _Ladies and Gentlemen, the creature seemingly ignored this Mr Harris until he labelled himself a 'Sunnydale Scooby' whatever that may be. It's turned to face him now, I'm afraid to say I expect him to be short-live…what the devil? The creature is changing size, shrinking to the height and width of an ordinary man! Wait, we're getting more from our directional microphone;_

"**Harris, you say. I'm not afraid to admit, your rag-tag band thwarted me more than once." **The demon is confident.

"Hardly that, our last count is at 1300 apocalypses averted, and that's just this decade. Will you give me a name, or do I have to invent a label." Xander grins as he says' this, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline at facing a foe directly.

"**No, no…" **the demon hurriedly replies **"I heard about that from Angelus. He whined about 'Deadboy' and 'Overbite' for decades. I have many names, but you may call me Lucifer."**

"So, Lucy…"

"**Call me that again and I incinerate that Hotel."**

"…ok. Why are you here, and at what point will I have to rush you brandishing my axe and screaming?"

"**I have finally been summoned by a Fallen member of the Faith. This is the End of Days and I will finish it when I've finished you, which should take about twelve seconds. Before we do battle, I must check something."**

"What?"

"**You are indeed _the_ Alexander Harris? The one who returned the Slayer Summers to life, twinning the Slayer line? The one who devised the defeat of the Judge? Who led your classmates against the Ascended one? Who inspired the defeat of ADAM? The one who stopped Rosenberg's destruction of the world? Who slew KLT!GH the Terrible? The First and Last member of the Scooby Gang? In short, The One Who Sees?**

"I am"

"**Hot Damn. When I kill you, the bounty will be huge! I'll finally be unassailable to that upstart Satan! We've been picking you off for years, a clue here, some demonic inspiration there…getting each of you alone and vulnerable. Only Wells escaped our plots. We're on an even score right now, and you'll get me my win!"**

"_Viewers, it would seem that this is not the first time this gentleman has protected our fair world from creatures such as this. It would also appear that many such individuals have perished in the doing."_

"By your own rules of single combat, you must assume a form no more than ten times my own strength and speed." He didn't let the demon's claims rattle him. Since Buffy died, _every_ demon he encountered made that claim. None had called themselves 'Lucifer' though…

"**Ok, 14 seconds then." **The demon was confident.

"I'd like to test that theory." So was he.

"**Be serious. You're 45, have one eye, bad knee's and, I hate to tell you this, well, not really, that twinge you get in your chest is an oncoming heart-attack. Just stand there and take it like a man. You're pretty much guaranteed Heaven anyway."**

"Lulu, I've fought your kind since I was fifteen years old. I'm hardly gonna stop now."

"**Very well, don't say I didn't warn you."**

The demon's form twisted and shimmered, assuming that of a petite red haired woman. In fact, that of Willow Rosenberg. The voice that issued from its mouth was incongruous to say the least.

"**Take your best shot."**

Xander's shoulders straightened, his eye burning with fury at the desecration of his Willow's image. He let the anger lend fuel to his aging muscles, but didn't grant it control of his actions.

"Then…" he grasped his battle-axe in one hand "…for all the Scooby Gang…" and he palmed a canister of Holy Water.

"…One, Last, Time!"

Over the years, he and others had devised a simple order to an encounter with a new kind of demon. As he (barely) ducked its initial punch, he began it.

* * *

Stage 1: Holy water. 

"**Hey, that kinda stings. Not."**

Duck second punch, weave, block, ignore the pain, and ignore the pain…

"Yee-ouch!"

…express the pain, dodge and;

* * *

Stage 2: Stake to the heart. 

"**Did you really think that would work?"** the demon actually sounded bemused.

"I was kinda hoping it would."

Try a kick, roll to absorb force of being flung across street, ignore elbows complaints, forward back-fist to the face, drop to evade high-kick, swear at knees and;

* * *

Stage 3: Short sword (Steel/Silver alloy) 

Parry punch, parry punch, notice welts left by silver, yes! Damn, already healing. Dodge, parry, kick, thrust, attempt to retrieve sword from demons side. Uh oh. Evade sword, left, drop, forward, leave burning pain in chest till later…

"Aargh!"

…Not so easy. Stop clutching chest. Push through the pain, and;

* * *

Stage 4: Grenades 

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Good, that staggered it.

"**How's the chest?"**

Bastard! Ok, dodge, duck, block, recover from kick to the stomach, and counter to the arm.

Snap.

Excellent! And now;

* * *

Stage 5: When in doubt, hack the shit out of It. 

Slice, slice, block, parry.

PAIN.

"_Bollocks! Mr Harris has been taken out of the fight. I think that we're all in dire straights now! Wait a second, there's a military group just arrived, they don't seem surprised by the nature of their opponent…Sir, Sir! What do you have to say regarding this unprecedented scene?"_

"_Unprecedented? I wish! That that thing is going dow…FUCK! That's Harris! That thing downed Harris! Call for back-up, Now! MEDIC, front and centre!"_

Demon got sword past guard, through gut into wall behind me. Demon turned away, dismissing me as a threat. Its mistake. This will hurt.

"Gah!"

"_It appears Mr Harris is prominent in the apparent sub-culture which deals with such apparitions. BLOODY HELL! Harris is…"_

Off of sword (Don't dwell on how.) bury axe in head. Should've done that at the start.

Huh, it went on into the body.

GOD DAMN. It's reforming! Quick, while it's reforming, use rest of grenades!

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Pain in gut. PAIN in chest. Demon dead, I think… Soldier, standing over me.

"Did… I… get… it…?"

"Yes sir, you got it."

"Good." I can rest.

"Harris, just hold on, there's doctors on their way! MEDIC!"

"m… sorry…. Kid."

"You can't die! You're Xander Harris!"

"I'm… the last… one. And…everyone's… gotta go…sometime. Tell…my girls…I love…"

"Sir? SIR?"

Darkness.

Then…

**Light.

* * *

**

"_Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a sad day. We have witnessed the passing of a hero. A great threat faced Cairo, and perhaps the world. One man stood in its path, alone. He succeeded, he stopped the creature, the demon, but at the cost of his own life. From the comments made by the demon, Mr Harris and the military contingent which has descended upon Cairo, this was not the first time, nor even the hundredth, that this man protected our world. As his final breath left his body, a heavenly light was observed surrounding his remains. We can only pray that such a valiant man was granted the peace he'd earned. This reporter has been assured that his successors remain active, throughout the world, working tirelessly to protect us from fates worse than death. I say that it is time they no longer fight in the shadows on the fringes of society. We must take a stand alongside them, lest we one day fall into darkness with not a bang, but a whimper which would shame the memory of men such as Alexander Harris."_

There is a graveyard in the English countryside. It is small, the remains of less than two dozen people buried or scattered there. Two were there in name only, their nature putting them beyond the reach of normal burial. Xander Harris was the last to be interred, buried with his axe as requested in his will. 'Just to be on the safe side' he'd written, and who would deny him that last request? The graveyard was declared a 'site of national significance' and put on the protected list, this, the Scoobies last resting place would be theirs forevermore.

It is the most visited places in the world, surpassing even Disneyworld for sheer numbers. Only the memorial in Cairo can claim to be in its league. Following the 'Cairo Incident', as it was labelled, the world took note of its shadows, and entered into the good fight. Every week, the world is that much safer. Every month a group of volunteers comes around to tidy the site and ensure that everything within is clean. Uniquely among its counterparts, this graveyard suffers no vandalism, but then even vandals revere this group. Who else actually blew up their school at Graduation? Every year, the graduating class of Slayers is brought here, to remember those who fought to save the world and changed it as well. It is a peaceful place, consecrated by every religion with an earthly representative. There are occasional reports of a glowing white figure, similar to the one which slew Xander Harris, tending and maintaining the ever-present greenery. By the entrance of the graveyard there is a simple plaque;

The Scooby Gang

They Saved the World, a Lot

Jenny Calendar / Janna Kalderash

Kendra

Tara Maclay

Anya Jenkins

Cordelia Chase

Angel / Liam

Wesley Whyndam-Price the Third

Spike / William

Faith Lehane

Riley & Samantha Finn

Daniel 'Oz' Osborne

Dawn Summers

Buffy Anne Summers

Rupert Giles

Willow Rosenberg – MIA

Andrew Wells

Alexander LaVelle Harris

Come the moment, come the man

Their moment has been and passed.

**Remember

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**

Finished. Hope it wasn't too depressing, I was trying for inspiring, but it was a story I felt needed to be told. Please, tell me what you think (It's the button on the bottom-left of the screen…)


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